Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The world premiere of the dutch documentary "I used to dance", a powerful film about living with lupus, will take place on March 14th at the Quad Cinema. I haven't seen the entire film, but the director and subject of the piece, Femke Kramer, who suffers from lupus, appears to have outdone herself. The film is said to transcend the one-dimensional patient film, depicting the layered, complex, often painful existence of life with lupus. The struggle to cope, the battle to manage the physical and emotional - it's all there. I admit that the first time I saw the trailer, I winced...and struggled to accept that the images I was seeing could be attributed to the same disease that I have and write about. But then I watched it a second time, and then a third. And now, I'm ready to see the film. I'm ready to associate pictures to the honest, often harsh words I use to describe lupus every single day.

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Sara Gorman

In 2001, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus, at the age of 26. I had been married less than 6 weeks and was at a highpoint in my career in television production. While I fought to keep hold of the life I'd known - demanding, yet fulfilling career, busy social life, packed vacation schedule - after four years of running my body into the ground, I realized I was fighting life, not living it. Thus, I downshifted almost every aspect of my life. I let go of my career and made it my number one priority to get myself back in good health. I'm proud to say that I've reached my goal, but work each day to maintain that healthy lifestyle. despite lupus. My book details the steps it took to reach that goal. A native of Indiana and graduate of the University of Notre Dame, I reside in Alexandria, Virginia with my husband, two young daughters, and pug dog.